Three independent members of Naftogaz’s supervisory board resigned on Sept. 7, newspaper Ekonomichna Pravda reported, citing sources inside the state-owned gas company.
Economy Minister Oleksiy Lyubchenko later confirmed the news during a Cabinet meeting on Sept. 8. Naftogaz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Ekonomichna Pravda, Bruno Lescoeur, Ludo Van der Heyden, and Clare Spottiswoode, the board’s chair, have stepped down.
The reported resignations followed a Sept. 6 announcement by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal that the company was now seeking four new members for the supervisory board to replace those who have stepped down.
On April 28, all but one member of the six-person supervisory board announced their resignation in protest over the dismissal of Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev and his hasty replacement by Yuriy Vitrenko, the former acting energy minister.
In order to appoint Vitrenko, the Cabinet of Ministers bypassed the supervisory board and dismissed it for two days to be able to fire Kobolyev directly without the consent of the board members. Spottiswoode said on April 29 that the supervisory board disagreed with and challenged the Cabinet’s decision. The board members were offered to stay for one more year.
Robert Bensch, a member of Nafotgaz’s supervisory board and state representative to the company, previously complained to Vitrenko that Spottiswoode had prevented him from attending meetings. Bensch was later terminated ahead of schedule and replaced by Yulia Svyrydenko, the deputy head of the President’s Office.
